Prior to the present invention, it has been conventional practice for automotive and other heavy-duty applications to removably mount a pneumatic tire upon a wheel. Particularly with respect to automobiles, it has been the practice to make such wheels of multi-part, stamped components suitably secured together as by welding and to the outer face of which a suitable metal wheel cover is normally applied for decorative purposes. Alternatively, such wheels may be of an even more costly single or multi-part casting with the decorative or design features formed as a part thereof. It has likewise been a part of typical prior art practice to form such wheels with drop-center rims, e.g. the rim being radially depressed inwardly toward the axis of rotation of the wheel and with the tire being mounted and supported upon the transversely spaced inner and outer edges of the rim.
Tires mounted on wheels having drop-center type rims normally have little run-flat capability and frequently such tires are severely damages by the time a moving vehicle with a deflated tire is brought to a stop.